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Painter D, Fasoli F, Sulpizio S. The Impact of Stimuli Length and Analytic Method on Auditory 'Gaydar' Research. J Voice 2024; 38:246.e1-246.e14. [PMID: 34763997 DOI: 10.1016/j.jvoice.2021.08.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2021] [Revised: 08/09/2021] [Accepted: 08/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
This research investigates voice-based categorization of speakers' sexual orientation, the so-called 'auditory gaydar', while considering stimuli length and the type of measures assessing gaydar judgments. In Study 1 (N = 80), heterosexual individuals listened to gay and heterosexual male speakers in short (single word), medium (single sentence), or long (two sentences) recordings. Next, they guess the speakers' sexual orientation on a Kinsey-like and binary choice. Participants were overall inaccurate in recognizing gay speakers when gaydar judgments were provided on a binary choice. Gay speakers were rated as more gay on a Kinsey-like scale than their heterosexual counterparts, but only when short and medium recordings were listened to. Study 2 (N = 149) examined gaydar accuracy for both male and female speakers by using the same procedure. Gaydar judgments were overall inaccurate for gay and lesbian speakers. For male speakers, a difference between the perceived sexual orientation of gay and heterosexual speakers emerged when stimuli were long. For female speakers, such a difference occurred only in the short and medium recording conditions. Study 3 (N = 137) examined gaydar judgments for male and female speakers when stimuli length was manipulated as the number of words progressively presented in a sentence: short (article), medium (article + first word), long (sentence) stimulus. Overall, gaydar judgments were inaccurate. Gay and lesbian (vs. heterosexual) speakers tended to be rated as more gay on the Kinsey-like scale in the medium stimulus condition. These findings suggest that gaydar judgments can be influenced by the type of measure and stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Painter
- School of Psychology, University of Surrey, University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom
| | - Fabio Fasoli
- School of Psychology, University of Surrey, University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom.
| | - Simone Sulpizio
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
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Fasoli F, Maass A, Berghella L. Who Has a Better Auditory Gaydar? Sexual Orientation Categorization by Heterosexual and Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual People. JOURNAL OF HOMOSEXUALITY 2023; 70:876-899. [PMID: 35007490 DOI: 10.1080/00918369.2021.2004796] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people are supposed to be better at gaydar than heterosexual. Across two studies we examined auditory gaydar performed by LGB and heterosexual listeners. In Study 1 participants (n = 127) listened to male and female speakers (n = 10) and judged their sexual orientation on a binary choice (gay/lesbian vs. heterosexual). In Study 2, participants (n = 192) judged speakers' (n = 31) sexual orientation on a Kinsey-like scale (1 = exclusively heterosexual, 7 = exclusively gay/lesbian). Results showed gaydar judgments differences in relative terms that did not indicate an overall gaydar accuracy. Moreover, LGB participants were not better at gaydar than heterosexual participants but rather showed a shift in criterion when making auditory gaydar judgments, namely they report a weaker straight categorization bias. Overall, these findings contribute to the understanding of sexual orientation categorization among heterosexual majority and LGB minority groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabio Fasoli
- School of Psychology, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK
- Centro de Investigação E Intervenção Social, Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (Iscte-iul), Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Anne Maass
- Dipartimento Di Psicologia Dello Sviluppo E Della Socializzazione, Università Di Padova, Padua, Italy
| | - Luna Berghella
- Dipartimento Di Psicologia Dello Sviluppo E Della Socializzazione, Università Di Padova, Padua, Italy
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Geng P, Gu W. Acoustic and Perceptual Characteristics of Mandarin Speech in Gay and Heterosexual Male Speakers. LANGUAGE AND SPEECH 2022; 65:1096-1109. [PMID: 33740875 DOI: 10.1177/00238309211000783] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
This study investigated acoustic and perceptual characteristics of Mandarin speech produced by gay and heterosexual male speakers. Acoustic analysis of monosyllabic words showed significant differences between the two groups in voice fundamental frequency (F0), F1 of low vowel, and duration of aspiration/frication in consonants. The acoustic patterns on F0, formants, and center of gravity as well as spectral skewness of /s/ differed from those reported for Western languages like American English, which could be interpreted from a sociopsychological point of view based on different acceptability of gay identity in the two societies. The results of a perceptual experiment revealed significant but weak correlations between the acoustic parameters and the score of perceived gayness, which was significantly higher on gay speech than on heterosexual male speech. Although the observed F0 and F1 patterns in Mandarin gay speech were opposite to the stereotype of gayness, gay identity can still be identified to some extent from speech due to the existence of other acoustic cues such as a longer fricative duration, which is not a stereotype of gayness but has been consistently observed in Mandarin and Western languages.
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Sulpizio S, Fasoli F, Antonio R, Eyssel F, Paladino MP, Diehl C. Auditory Gaydar: Perception of Sexual Orientation Based on Female Voice. LANGUAGE AND SPEECH 2020; 63:184-206. [PMID: 30773985 DOI: 10.1177/0023830919828201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
We investigated auditory gaydar (i.e., the ability to recognize sexual orientation) in female speakers, addressing three related issues: whether auditory gaydar is (1) accurate, (2) language-dependent (i.e., occurs only in some languages, but not in others), and (3) ingroup-specific (i.e., occurs only when listeners judge speakers of their own language, but not when they judge foreign language speakers). In three experiments, we asked Italian, Portuguese, and German participants (total N = 466) to listen to voices of Italian, Portuguese, and German women, and to rate their sexual orientation. Our results showed that auditory gaydar was not accurate; listeners were not able to identify speakers' sexual orientation correctly. The same pattern emerged consistently across all three languages and when listeners rated foreign-language speakers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simone Sulpizio
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Italy
- Faculty of Psychology, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Italy
| | - Fabio Fasoli
- Centro de Investigação e Intervenção Social, Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, Portugal
- School of Psychology, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK
| | - Raquel Antonio
- Centro de Investigação e Intervenção Social, Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Friederike Eyssel
- Center of Excellence, Cognitive Interaction Technology, Bielefeld University, Germany
| | | | - Charlotte Diehl
- Center of Excellence, Cognitive Interaction Technology, Bielefeld University, Germany
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Vanpoucke B, Cosyns M, Bettens K, Van Borsel J. Nasality in Homosexual Men: A Comparison with Heterosexual Men and Women. ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR 2019; 48:1443-1449. [PMID: 30232654 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-018-1306-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2017] [Revised: 06/14/2018] [Accepted: 09/05/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Several studies reported that pitch and articulation may vary according to a person's sexual orientation. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether homosexual males also demonstrate differences in nasal resonance compared to heterosexual males. Speech samples of 30 self-identified homosexual males, 35 heterosexual males, and 34 heterosexual females were compared both instrumentally and perceptually. Nasalance scores were calculated for the sounds /a/, /i/, /u/, and /m/ and for an oronasal, oral, and nasal text. In addition, the Nasality Severity Index was determined. Spontaneous speech samples were used for a perceptual evaluation of nasal resonance. Neither the nasalance scores nor the Nasality Severity Index were significantly different between the homosexual and heterosexual males. Heterosexual females, on the other hand, showed significantly higher nasalance values for the oronasal and oral text and a significantly lower Nasality Severity Index than both the homosexual and the heterosexual males. The perceptual judgment revealed no significant differences between the three groups. The results of this study suggest that, in contrast to pitch and articulation, nasality does not tend to vary with sexual orientation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Belle Vanpoucke
- Logopaedic and Audiological Sciences, Ghent University, UZ Gent 2P1, De Pintaan 185, 9000, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Marjan Cosyns
- Logopaedic and Audiological Sciences, Ghent University, UZ Gent 2P1, De Pintaan 185, 9000, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Kim Bettens
- Logopaedic and Audiological Sciences, Ghent University, UZ Gent 2P1, De Pintaan 185, 9000, Ghent, Belgium
| | - John Van Borsel
- Logopaedic and Audiological Sciences, Ghent University, UZ Gent 2P1, De Pintaan 185, 9000, Ghent, Belgium.
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Fasoli F, Maass A, Sulpizio S. Stereotypical Disease Inferences From Gay/Lesbian Versus Heterosexual Voices. JOURNAL OF HOMOSEXUALITY 2017; 65:990-1014. [PMID: 28841093 DOI: 10.1080/00918369.2017.1364945] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Voice is a cue used to categorize speakers as members of social groups, including sexual orientation. We investigate the consequences of such voice-based categorization, showing that people infer stereotype-congruent disease likelihood on the basis of vocal information and without explicit information about the speaker's sexual orientation. Study 1 and Study 2 reveal that participants attribute diseases to gay/lesbian and heterosexual men and women in line with stereotypes. Gay speakers were more likely to be associated with gay and female diseases, and lesbian speakers with male diseases. These findings demonstrate that likelihood to suffer from diseases is erroneously, but stereotypically, inferred from targets' vocal information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabio Fasoli
- a School of Psychology , University of Surrey , Guildford , UK
| | - Anne Maass
- b Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization , University of Padua , Padova , Italy
| | - Simone Sulpizio
- c Faculty of Psychology , Vita-Salute San Raffaele University , Milan , Italy
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Facial biases on vocal perception and memory. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2017; 177:54-68. [PMID: 28477455 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2017.04.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2016] [Revised: 04/17/2017] [Accepted: 04/27/2017] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Does a speaker's face influence the way their voice is heard and later remembered? This question was addressed through two experiments where in each, participants listened to middle-aged voices accompanied by faces that were either age-appropriate, younger or older than the voice or, as a control, no face at all. In Experiment 1, participants evaluated each voice on various acoustical dimensions and speaker characteristics. The results showed that facial displays influenced perception such that the same voice was heard differently depending on the age of the accompanying face. Experiment 2 further revealed that facial displays led to memory distortions that were age-congruent in nature. These findings illustrate that faces can activate certain social categories and preconceived stereotypes that then influence vocal and person perception in a corresponding fashion. Processes of face/voice integration are very similar to those of music/film, indicating that the two areas can mutually inform one another and perhaps, more generally, reflect a centralized mechanism of cross-sensory integration.
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Blanco CP, Bannard C, Smiljanic R. Differences in the Association between Segment and Language: Early Bilinguals Pattern with Monolinguals and Are Less Accurate than Late Bilinguals. Front Psychol 2016; 7:993. [PMID: 27445947 PMCID: PMC4926612 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00993] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2016] [Accepted: 06/16/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Early bilinguals often show as much sensitivity to L2-specific contrasts as monolingual speakers of the L2, but most work on cross-language speech perception has focused on isolated segments, and typically only on neighboring vowels or stop contrasts. In tasks that include sounds in context, listeners’ success is more variable, so segment discrimination in isolation may not adequately represent the phonetic detail in stored representations. The current study explores the relationship between language experience and sensitivity to segmental cues in context by comparing the categorization patterns of monolingual English listeners and early and late Spanish–English bilinguals. Participants categorized nonce words containing different classes of English- and Spanish-specific sounds as being more English-like or more Spanish-like; target segments included phonemic cues, cues for which there is no analogous sound in the other language, or phonetic cues, cues for which English and Spanish share the category but for which each language varies in its phonetic implementation. Listeners’ language categorization accuracy and reaction times were analyzed. Our results reveal a largely uniform categorization pattern across listener groups: Spanish cues were categorized more accurately than English cues, and phonemic cues were easier for listeners to categorize than phonetic cues. There were no differences in the sensitivity of monolinguals and early bilinguals to language-specific cues, suggesting that the early bilinguals’ exposure to Spanish did not fundamentally change their representations of English phonology. However, neither did the early bilinguals show more sensitivity than the monolinguals to Spanish sounds. The late bilinguals however, were significantly more accurate than either of the other groups. These findings indicate that listeners with varying exposure to English and Spanish are able to use language-specific cues in a nonce-word language categorization task. Differences in how, and not only when, a language was acquired may influence listener sensitivity to more difficult cues, and the advantage for phonemic cues may reflect the greater salience of categories unique to each language. Implications for foreign-accent categorization and cross-language speech perception are discussed, and future directions are outlined to better understand how salience varies across language-specific phonemic and phonetic cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cynthia P Blanco
- Department of Linguistics, University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX, USA
| | - Colin Bannard
- Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Liverpool Liverpool, UK
| | - Rajka Smiljanic
- Department of Linguistics, University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX, USA
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